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Nijushiho / Niseishi Application

Here is a video of me talking through one of my interpretations of part of the opening sequence of Nijushiho. What may seem unusual is that I've chosen to take this as a 'mid game' position rather than treat it as a preempt or response from standing to a habitual act of violence. I'm going to play with the theme of controls and restraint alongside the strikes in this kata quite a bit more over the next few months and will record anything I think worth sharing. I will probably swap between the different versions of the kata that I know in doing so.

Please feel free to have a go at the application shown and come back to me if there's something you've not seen so well from the video or I've not explained enough.

I am curious to understand how effective it would be with an attacker driving with agression and force in the tackle..It would be good to see you perform it with a slightly less compliant partner in a live drill. Do you have any footage of that?

I'm planning on doing a shorter video soon on the Shuto anti-tackle application which is a precursor to this Nijushiho application.

We regularly do the tackle defence against resiting people, and we've practiced transitioning to this hold (as we do with all our controls) against a resisting person - but I stress that tackle is designed to be an unskilled dive into the person, neither wrestling nor rugby are common here and tackles are really a rather secondary concern. I do have footage of Chris (who is my static partner in this drill) adapting our tackle defence against a trainee who tries to tackle him to escape being punched in the face. In this video (shown before here) Chris is role playing the bad guy against a bigger opponent in a contact acclimatisation exercise. From 0:53 onwards the trainee (a Shotokan instructor) tries to hold Chris at bay while Chris flails with wild punches, but as this proves unsuccessful goes for the tackle. Without thinking about it Chris applies a rough version of the shuto tackle defence (especially as he has to counter turn) and guides the trainee into the ground - followed by the trainee roundhouse kicking him into submission (caught him on a floating rib).

Looking again at this, I wonder whether people react differently to bunkai when it is presented as 'controls' or 'holds' as opposed to fight ending techniques. Our immediate priority in a confrontation (that has gone physical) will be the protection of ourselves and others from harm by the assailant, but I'm sure that situations where the assailant is a person we don't wish or need to harm have also always been the case, so finding movements that can be applied in that context should not be surprising.

I love what you do on your sumulation days (?)...Translating "static" bunkai Theory into non-compliant appliations can lead to, what appear on the surface, to be counter-intuative conclusions.. what intially seems to be a very neat or simple solution/application when done statically can often become unworkable in the fire of a non-compliant assailant.

Last night I was trying to play around with your application and just couldn't get it work effectively with even a compliant partner.... wasn't till I had a look at your video again this morning that I missed the vital controlling shuto application..Doh! Ironically I focus or postion most of what I do off Shuto...clearly it is not inbedded enough (...must train harder )

I love what you do on your sumulation days (?)...Translating "static" bunkai Theory into non-compliant appliations can lead to, what appear on the surface, to be counter-intuative conclusions.. what intially seems to be a very neat or simple solution/application when done statically can often become unworkable in the fire of a non-compliant assailant.

Last night I was trying to play around with your application and just couldn't get it work effectively with even a compliant partner.... wasn't till I had a look at your video again this morning that I missed the vital controlling shuto application..Doh! Ironically I focus or postion most of what I do off Shuto...clearly it is not inbedded enough (...must train harder )

Hi Th0mas

The key to the control is to move away from the other person at a right angle while pressing down on the golgi tendon with their arm at a right angle. There are various things that can go wrong, as with any holding technique.

To get into the basic control, and achieve the right angle, the pushing away of the head is often necessary. I've used the Shuto technique to do this. Now it could be argued that this negates the application since 'shuto uke' is not really featured in this Kata - but the technique of pushing the head is closer to the tate shuto uke. Alternatively, in terms of repertoire, I might see Nijushiho as a 'bolt on' to my core Heian/Pinan repertoire. From that perspective if I was drilling the Heian Flow System at any point I might spin off into some Nijushiho bunkai.

Once you begin the control position, unless you move away quite sharply the other person will naturally move in response to the pressure on their arm, turning towards you. If this happens you can either put more pressure on the arm and do a circular turn into the ground, or try the step back drag down (as per the original movement) or rise up (as per the secpnd part of the application). I've yet to play with it in detail but I believe the circular 'dance' downwards leads to a potential application for the downwards striking movement in the middle of the Kata.

0:49 here:

0:24 here:

Funnily enough I also think I can link the the double upward strikes (Kiai) to dealing with an upward spin out of the control. I'll have a play with that next week.

To get into the basic control, and achieve the right angle, the pushing away of the head is often necessary. I've used the Shuto technique to do this. Now it could be argued that this negates the application since 'shuto uke' is not really featured in this Kata - but the technique of pushing the head is closer to the tate shuto uke.

I really don't believe using shuto negates the application. I look at shuto as just another varient of "crossing your arms" which I believe is one of the key underlying mechanisms that underpins a large proportion of applictions in karate. Arguably all the "traditional blocking" techniques can be lumped under this catagory, they are just applied differently and when performed in solo they take on a different form.

Actually, now I have thought about it, the openning movement in Nijushiho is peforming the same function as your shuto...

Anyway please carry on, I am looking forward to the next installment. :)

I've been laid low for the last few weeks with a fever and tonsilitis. I've got a previously shot video on something else that I'll upload and then in the next week or two I'll look at filming some other short clips with the shuto and tackle being at the top of the list.

I said on another thread that I'd put together an updated Nijushiho video for people to see. I meant to record a quick walk through talk through at a charity seminar in High Wycombe on Saturday but forgot, so here's an under 5 minute video covering the Kata that I shot this afternoon.

You can obtain Vince's Nijushiho DVD through the Kissaki site. I'd recommend it - looks like you have a similar approach. The opening move of the kata is very adaptable and the 'frisbee' uke we do is, I think, very practical for a swinging attack. Having been on the receiving end of Vince's version I can vouch for its stopping power and the pain it inflicts on the 'attacker'.